Time and space are so flexible. A single change, a single action, can cause reality to spiral in a new direction. A sad ending can become happy, a victory can become defeat. All can be altered by the tiniest events.

Chapter 2

M-21 opened and closed his fists. His heart beat erratically, his hands felt clammy. 'Calm down', quietly he thought, calm down. His time in Union had taught him that those who showed weakness were the easiest prey, but it was still taking all his willpower to not fidget.

Fortunately, no one was paying him any attention. Frankenstein's Master and Muzaka were fixated on each other, and Frankenstein and Garda in turn were fixated on their respective partners. M-21 regarded them cautiously, why was no one speaking? Perhaps they communicated telepathically?

Before M-21 could muse further, Frankenstein cleared his throat loudly breaking the silence, and startling his Master and Muzaka out of their reverie.

Muzaka was the first one to regain his composure and shot Frankenstein an annoyed look, "When were you planning to inform me about this, you crazy bastard?" Although his anger was not directed at M-21, the deep rumble in his voice made M-21 flinch. Muzaka's displeasure seemed to be affecting him physically.

"Oh? The snappy mutt's complaining has already started?" Frankenstein smirked, almost daring Muzaka to reply.

"Frankenstein," promptly came the gentle chide of his Master.

Frankenstein's smile froze for a second and he bowed slightly in apology "Forgive me Master, I got ahead of myself."

"Heh, now that's a sight I missed" Muzaka couldn't help his grin, his mood shifting "To see the lid put on your outrageous temper with my own eyes."

"Muzaka" sighed Master this time at him. He just looked like he wanted some answers and was getting tired of Muzaka and Frankenstein's back and forth banter.

"What is it?" Muzaka crossed his arm in front of him defiantly. "Ahem" It was Garda turn to sigh "We have a lot to talk about," she said politely but her message was clear 'stop this nonsense'. Scolded from all sides, Muzaka looked embarrassed.

M-21 attentively listened to each word in the conversation, not that he understood much of this private conversation, where half the things were being conveyed through gestures, but everything that could help him survive was important. To him, Garda seemed much more relaxed than her companion, less exhilarated.

"Where is your mobile phone?" Frankenstein resumed the conversation. Right, Frankenstein has asked Muzaka about his mobile earlier as well.

"My mobile phone …" Muzaka scratched his head. Next to him, Garda coughed into her fist. M-21 looked at her surprised… did she just laugh?

"Yes, the square small box I gave you" Frankenstein repeated impatiently.

"Uh … yes. There's a little problem." Muzaka was still scratching his head.

"What kind of problem? Did you forget to charge the battery?"

Muzaka did not answer, but reached into his pocket and pulled out what used to be a cell phone. As he lifted it, M-21 could see the moon shining through the small hole right in the middle of the device. Well, a charger would not be much help anymore.

"Muzaka!"

"Hey, not my fault," Muzaka defended himself, "Some fellow attempted to shoot me."

"Exactly where your mobile phone was at that time?" questioned Frankenstein "and I hope it was painful!"

Muzaka looked on with an uncaring face; Frankenstein's Master was next to him was frowning in confusion.

"Very well then" Frankenstein continued rubbing his chin, a malicious smile on his face. "Your next mobile's pay will be deducted from your salary."

Now that ruffled Muzaka and he made a strangled noise which involuntarily reminded M-21 of a kicked dog. Garda patted his back, as if to cheer him up.

M-21 was starting to feel like he was in a bad stand-up comedy, the only difference was that either of these people would kill him, should he dare to laugh.

"Master" Frankenstein gently diverted his attention to Garda "May I introduce you to Miss Garda? She is an old acquaintance of Muzaka. Miss Garda this is Cadis Etrama di Raizel. I would guess that Muzaka have told you a lot about him."

"Yes, more or less" Garda smiled and bowed her head "It is an honour to meet you." Beside her Muzaka grinned "Garda and I live and work with Frankenstein."

What? M-21 stared at the ground. Sure, Frankenstein had said they were old acquaintances, but now they lived in the house, since when? And what did he mean by work together? He felt a bit shaken by this news and clenched his hands, which were already in his pockets, so that no one could see the incessant trembling.

"Who is he?"

M-21 lifted his head instinctively to meet Muzaka's piercing gaze. His breath stopped and he could feel the same paralysis which he had experienced when he met Muzaka the first time.

"Because of certain circumstances he lives with us," he heard Frankenstein from afar. "M-21?"

M-21 did not pull his gaze from Muzaka but turned his head slightly to show that he was listening to Frankenstein. He didn't want to lose sight of Muzaka or Garda. Muzaka had looked at him strangely at the mention of his codename, but then he shook his head, and went to Frankenstein's master. Now it was only Garda who was watching him, curious.

"We should go now", Frankenstein reminded him and to the rest of the group.

"I'll come later," interjected M-21.

"…As you wish" Frankenstein turned away with a last scrutinizing look and the group disappeared together over the roofs.

M-21 waited until the group could no longer be seen, then leapt a few rooftops until he was standing on a low building. There he slumped against a wall, sank to the ground, grinding his teeth at his weakness and waited until the shuddering in his body has subsided.

Shit…

~.~.~

"Your shoes are in the closet," Frankenstein told him and Garda as he opened the door. He snorted to himself. He hated these slippers, but said nothing. Complaining will only lead to Frankenstein snaking him out, no need to give him opportunities on a platter.

Muzaka stripped himself off his snickers and slipped into comfortable pink slippers. He could feel Raizel's gaze on his back. Hmm … this should not surprise him, nevertheless, Muzaka felt his throat tighten uncomfortably. The small clashes with Frankenstein had distracted him before, but he could not postpone this forever.

"Do not wait for me", he muttered to Garda. This would be a long conversation. Garda understood and hummed softly before disappearing with Frankenstein. This left him alone with Raizel.

"My room, or yours?" he asked Raizel, who just looked at him but Muzaka knew the answer immediately. Well, it hardly mattered anyway.

Raizel followed him quietly as he made his way to his room. He glanced at Raizel over his shoulders and opened the door to let him in before he entered and closed the door behind him.

Immediately, he kicked his slippers off his feet. His room, his rules. He would not wear these ugly pink shoes any longer than necessary. When he looked up, Raizel stood somewhat disoriented in the room next to one of the two armchairs where he and Garda usually sit.

"Take a seat," he muttered casually, a deliberate attempt at shaking off the awkwardness he was feeling. It had been centuries since he was last alone with Raizel. "I will undress in a moment", stripping off his T-shirt, he walked past Raizel, listening to the elegant ruffle of his friend's clothes as he sat down, whilst he himself threw the T-shirt sloppily on the bed.

The room was small and nested. At the entrance stood a table with two armchairs and a desk. Two wide bookcases separated the back room with bed and wardrobe. It looked like a small cave. The back room, both the bed and the walls, were covered with heavy carpets and furs.

Muzaka grabbed the nearest T-shirt and returned to Raizel who was sitting in the armchair, his armchair, his eyes fixated on the wall. Muzaka's heart contracted painfully, and he clenched the fabric in his hand. He knew what Raizel was looking at.

"Nice picture, right?" His voice sounded as hard as his heart felt. He followed Raizel's gaze at the portrait on the wall. It showed a young girl with long brown hair. Her grey eyes smiling back at him.

Muzaka slipped his shirt over his head, leaned his back against the shelf, and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Tell me what happened, Muzaka"

"Oh, you mean after we both tried to kill each other?" he got a strange look from Raizel. Crap! Why was it so hard to keep his mouth shut? He bit his lower lip…

Difficult conversations were not his specialty, he had proved in the past.

"All right," he growled, half-breathing deeply. "Not long after our fight, Garda has appeared. She wanted to warn me" he gritted his teeth in rage as he spoke.

"The struggle between us, Ashleen's death, everything was planned from the beginning, by a few of my and your people!"

Raizel was silent and although Muzaka was sure that his friend had probably suspected something of the like, he could still feel a slight tension from the Noblesse.

"Garda found out about it. She came to the battlefield to look for me but could not find me" he dug his claws in his forearm as he thought about what had happened. "A group of the Union had captured me and dragged me away in one of their labs even before Garda or Frankenstein had arrived at the scene." His tone was becoming more and more urgent with every word he was speaking as he barely caught his growl.

"Garda spoke to the traitors before many of our warriors. Bit by bit the plans came to light. First of all, Maduke was the mastermind behind everything. He had made a contract with the Union!" He could feel Raizel's startled eyes on him at this piece of information.

"This scum sacrificed his own people, my people for experiments like the humans did and he thought he was right in doing this. That was enough to wake Garda up. She demanded that the traitors leave the Island. She was alone in the beginning but more and more people joined her with time" he gave Raizel a forced smile. "Garda can deal in words much better than myself, and can reach our people's mind far beyond I ever did, far enough to convince my people that Maduke's goals would require many sacrifices to satisfy his own greed. One might say that Maduke lost his word-fighting against her."

He finished, bitter at his own lack of sensitivity to his people thoughts before it was too late. He had often wanted to turn back the time to correct his mistakes. He had been the lord of the werewolves thanks to his strength, but Garda … Garda could have done this better. He closed his eyes.

Thereupon neither of them said anything. Muzaka was lost in thought staring listlessly at the portrait of his daughter and Raizel did not disturb him.

"Ashleen was still alive,"

That startled Raizel and he looked on surprised.

"Frankenstein later thought it was probable that the shock by the crossbow caused her body to get into a kind of rest state to deal better with the injury …" Muzaka's voice stilled and he had to breathe deeply.

"In search of me, it was Garda that who finally found Ashleen. She hid her from Maduke and raised her instead of me. My daughter was alive all the time and I was too stupid to notice it…" He put up a hand before Raizel could interrupt him and raised his gaze at him. "We both know it is true."

It had been so long since he had seen Raizel, and now he was sitting in his chair, his eyes wide open, everything seemed surreal. There was no blood, no torn clothing, and Raizel's eyes showed no trace of the crushing accusations he had always imagined towards himself. He closed his eyes, leaned his head against the bookshelf.

"Garda and Frankenstein did not meet for long afterwards. I'm still not quite sure how it came about that they understood each other so well, but they often met and looked for us both together. When Garda finally found me in this Union laboratory, over 500 years had already passed."

"I had a lot of time to think about the moment when Garda and Frankenstein freed me from that hell hole and woke me up. At first I was furious with anger, shit I think Frankenstein could send half Lukedonia asleep with the sedative he gave me" he snorted weakly. "During my recovery, I thought a lot….and my hatred against the humanity became self-hatred."

"I had to think about what I had almost done, dreaming of how my people were chasing, enslaving, and murdering humans. I saw their arrogance, their faith to have the right to rule like gods … and then I saw myself as I first killed Ashleen's mother and then killed her." Muzaka looked at Raizel and saw sheer pain in his eyes "I had to recognize that I was not better than my people, maybe even worse because I tried to convince myself the opposite."

"I was blind when my people changed, for I did not know how and why. I was blind when I got to know Ashleen's mother, because I did not think about possible consequences, and later he did not catch up with Ashleen" he took a deep breath "And when I attacked you later …" he shook his head and could not finish the sentence.

Raizel did not answer him and Muzaka felt unable to look him in the eye.

"In hindsight, I imagined what would have happened if you had not come. How long would it take Lukedonia or my own people? How many humans would I have extinguished before then? How many Nobles and Werewolves would have had to leave their lives until I was stopped? In the end … in the end, I'm glad you were the one who stopped me before I could do something" he finally finished, anguished.

"It was not all your fault Muzaka"

"Not everything," Muzaka whispered softly "But my own cowardice in front of reality has deprived me of my ability to think …"

"Muzaka!"

His voice sounded as penetrating as he had never heard of Raizel. This made Muzaka look up in surprise.

"I'm glad you're alive"

Muzaka's eyes widened. He opened his mouth and closed it again, as if stirred by the thunder, but he could do nothing but look at Raizel. To his surprise, Raizel was the one who avoided his gaze.

"I've never felt anger Muzaka, just sadness because I could not help you"

Raizel's eyes shone unusually bright and Muzaka knew it was due to the strong emotions that raged within Raizel.

"We both hoped for something we did not have"

Muzaka felt his tension loosen, his shoulders sagging.

"Ah, I'm also glad you're alive, Raizel" he smiled and the with jerk pushed himself off of the shelf and slid into the chair opposite Raizel.

"But you're sitting in my chair, you know that, do you?"

"…"

Notes: Yeah, second chapter is here! Thanks to the translation is perfect und Muzaka Charakter + the chapter is longer than I planned it xD